Chapter 49

At 8:30 PM, Zhou Ming and Li Cheng finished their meal and took the elevator to the first-floor lobby. The hotel manager greeted them at the elevator entrance and, seeing Li Cheng, stepped forward and said, "Mr. Li, hello. Did you enjoy the dishes today?"

Li Cheng smiled and replied, "I'm not that particular. As long as you don't serve me spoiled or expired food, I'm fine."

"Mr. Li, you're joking. I wouldn't dare do that even if you gave me ten lives!" the hotel manager said. "Our hotel knows that Mr. Li is entertaining important guests today, and our goal is to make you satisfied."

"Your service philosophy is good, but it's not just about me being satisfied; my guests need to be satisfied too," Li Cheng said, turning to introduce Zhou Ming. "This is Mr. Zhou Ming, my guest today."

The hotel manager widened his eyes, looking at the young man who was at least ten years younger than him, and muttered, "Mr. Zhou, a guest?"

From the hotel manager's expression, it was clear what he was thinking. He was obviously very surprised by Li Cheng's introduction of Zhou Ming. After all, Li Cheng's status was well-known. Although he wasn't the richest Chinese person yet, he was one of the top billionaires in Hong Kong. Those who usually interacted with him were either high-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen, all of whom were middle-aged or older. Therefore, it was understandable that the hotel manager found it hard to believe that Zhou Ming was Li Cheng's guest, rather than his bodyguard.

Of course, this didn't mean that Li Cheng never met young guests. However, it was easy to imagine that in the past, he would have maintained his dignity and not introduced them so openly, which naturally made the hotel manager very surprised today.

In fact, even Zhou Ming himself hadn't expected this. The words Li Cheng said next clarified the hotel manager's doubts.

Li Cheng said, "Mr. Zhou is no ordinary person. Don't let his youth fool you; he is the owner of Jinming Fund, the company that launched the guaranteed fund."

This statement made the hotel manager's mind race. He looked at Zhou Ming in amazement and stammered, "You... you are the owner of Jinming Fund, the financial genius who made the front page of Hong Kong's financial news today?"

Zhou Ming scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Just call me Zhou Ming without all those fancy titles."

With Zhou Ming's response, the hotel manager immediately came forward to shake his hand warmly. "Mr. Zhou, hello. I didn't recognize you; I really failed in this matter."

Zhou Ming chuckled and said, "Manager, you're too modest. I'm not that famous, actually."

"No, Mr. Zhou, you're too modest. In my opinion, you are definitely a leader in the financial market!" the hotel manager said. "Mr. Zhou, I know your fund company has launched a guaranteed fund. Is there any share left? Can I participate?"

"Of course," Zhou Ming said. "But I don't have anything with me right now. If you really want to buy, come to my company tomorrow. There are still about one million shares left."

The hotel manager agreed repeatedly, while Li Cheng looked at Zhou Ming with newfound respect and patted his shoulder. "Now I understand your intentions. Your confidence isn't baseless; you are indeed very capable and efficient."

Zhou Ming bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li." He knew that his actions hadn't escaped Li Cheng's notice. As the owner of a fund company, he could have directly agreed to the hotel manager's request, but that would have violated company policy. If the shares were insufficient, it would have created a difficult situation. Therefore, by telling the hotel manager to go to the company, he avoided breaking the rules and kept the hotel manager happy.

At the hotel entrance, a black BMW was waiting. Seeing Li Cheng approach, the bodyguard hurriedly opened the car door for him. Li Cheng walked to the car and turned to Zhou Ming, saying, "Young man, go all out. If you encounter any problems, you can come to me. Although you refused me today, I can give you one unconditional help."

Li Cheng's words stunned everyone around: What? Zhou Ming refused Li Cheng's offer? Why would Li Cheng still offer unconditional help? What's going on?

But Zhou Ming's response shocked them even more. He said, "Thank you, Mr. Li, but I don't think I'll need that opportunity."

Everyone stared at Zhou Ming in disbelief, their mouths wide open enough to fit an egg. This Zhou Ming... was he too confident?

Li Cheng laughed heartily, then got into his car and closed the door. As the car started, he rolled down the window and said, "I'll be waiting for you in the future."

Zhou Ming watched Li Cheng's car drive away. Meanwhile, a black Audi pulled up. This was Zhou Ming's car, but unlike Li Cheng's, it had no secretary or bodyguard, only Lin Muqing. In the nearly two months they had been in Hong Kong, Lin Muqing had learned to drive and obtained a driver's license, which Zhou Ming admired. He had taken almost a year to get his license in his previous life, although it was much harder to get one back then.

Getting into the car, Lin Muqing started it cautiously and asked Zhou Ming, "From the looks of those people, what did you do?"

"I did something very foolish," Zhou Ming said with a bitter smile.

Lin Muqing blinked, curious. Zhou Ming continued, "During dinner with Li Cheng, he said he wanted to invest 50 million yuan in my fund company."

"You were right, Zhou Ming. I guessed it would be something like that!" Lin Muqing sighed. "But Li Cheng is quite generous, offering 50 million yuan right away."

"Li Cheng is a very insightful person. He can see the potential in things. I believe he will become the richest Chinese person in the world within ten years, if I don't get in the way," Zhou Ming said.

"Everyone says Li Cheng has confidence in you, and it seems you have a high opinion of him too!" Lin Muqing said.

Zhou Ming smiled slightly, thinking to himself that it wasn't just that he had a high opinion of Li Cheng, but that he knew Li Cheng would become the richest Chinese person in the future.

"So, how did you respond to him?" Lin Muqing asked.

"I refused him, which is why I said I did something foolish," Zhou Ming said.

"Sure enough," Lin Muqing slowly pulled the car to the side of the road, turned to Zhou Ming, and said, "But I think what you did wasn't foolish at all; in fact, it was very smart!"

Zhou Ming asked, "Are you saying there's no such thing as a free lunch, and once he's in, it will be hard to get rid of him? If the fund company grows, it might become his, and we'll end up working for him for free, right?"

"Isn't that the case?" Lin Muqing asked.

"At first, it was, but then he said he could give me one unconditional help. I told him I probably wouldn't need it," Zhou Ming said.

This surprised Lin Muqing. "Unconditional help? Why?"

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said, "If I'm not mistaken, he's making a personal investment. Although business is like a battlefield, and everyone seeks their own interests, there's still a sense of personal connection among these tycoons, especially for us Chinese who value Confucianism. Personal connections are intangible and hard to grasp, but if you can master them, you'll be invincible. I believe this is one of the reasons Li Cheng has achieved his current success and will become the richest Chinese person in the future."

"But among all the tycoons in Hong Kong, only you saw this," Lin Muqing said.

Zhou Ming smiled. "I wish I hadn't seen it! But these days, everything is easy to repay except for personal connections."

After a moment of silence, Zhou Ming said to Lin Muqing, "I'm sorry, Sister Muqing. Because of my stubbornness, the road ahead for Jinming Fund will be much harder for you."

Lin Muqing shook her head. "Actually, I think the same way. Only the money you earn yourself is real, and steady growth is beneficial. If you accepted Li Cheng's investment to make the fund company grow quickly, it would be like pulling up the seedlings to help them grow. If you did that, I would look down on you."

"Compared to that..." Lin Muqing looked up at Zhou Ming and said, "When do you plan to return to the mainland?"

The topic made both of them silent. They had been in Hong Kong for almost two months, and during this time, Zhou Ming had created many miracles in Hong Kong. However, his home was still in Linyang, his father was still unemployed, and Su Han was hiding in her hometown, waiting for Zhou Ming to save her. No matter how successful Zhou Ming was in Hong Kong, he would eventually have to return.

Because Zhou Ming was going back to the mainland, he had decided to hand over Jinming Fund to Lin Muqing to manage, and he felt guilty about refusing Li Cheng's investment.

After a while, Zhou Ming said, "As soon as possible. Although I haven't officially obtained Hong Kong residency, I can still be considered a half-Hong Kong businessman now."

He paused and asked Lin Muqing, "Sister Muqing, can you manage Jinming Fund on your own? Do you need me to find you a few female secretaries or a female administrative specialist?"

Lin Muqing thought for a moment and said, "For now, I don't think I need any. Wang Yunlong can manage most of the company's business, and Cao Haiyang is familiar with his work. If you could bring Min from the front desk to be my secretary, that would be great. I've observed her for some time and think she is smart, hardworking, and has no bad intentions. With her help, I should be able to handle most things as long as there are no major issues."

Zhou Ming nodded. "Okay, no problem."

"Only..." Lin Muqing bit her lip and said, "I'll miss you."

This statement surprised Zhou Ming. Although he had always considered Lin Muqing his woman, she had never shown any clear attitude. Today, perhaps because of the sadness of parting, she had said she would miss him.

In the light, Zhou Ming could see the shimmer in Lin Muqing's eyes, which made his heart race. He said, "Sister Muqing, you make me want to kiss you."

He expected Lin Muqing to blush and scold him, but instead, she made a soft sound and slowly closed her eyes.

Zhou Ming felt a string in his heart snap, and he pounced on Lin Muqing, kissing her lips.

This wasn't the first time Zhou Ming had kissed Lin Muqing, but the warmth of her lips always left him lingering. He inhaled the fragrance from her body, opened his lips, and greedily and hungrily sucked the sweetness from her mouth. His tongue explored, like a nimble snake, and finally found her wet, sweet tongue, gently rolling and stirring.

Zhou Ming's hands were not idle, climbing up to the peaks of Lin Muqing's chest, gently pinching the fullness and softness. He could feel her body tremble at his touch, but she did not push him away.

This made Zhou Ming very excited. Just as he was about to take the next step, a car horn sounded, startling Lin Muqing. She used her last bit of rationality to hold back Zhou Ming's wandering hands and murmured, "No... no, we're on the street."

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